Charleston is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 17,119 people and five associated neighborhoods, Charleston is the 148th largest community in Illinois.

Also of interest is that Charleston has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.78% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Charleston is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Charleston to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.

One of the benefits of Charleston is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.96 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

The overall education level of Charleston citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 33.10% of adults in Charleston have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Charleston in 2022 was $28,162, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $112,648 for a family of four. However, Charleston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Charleston is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Charleston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Charleston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Charleston include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.

The most common language spoken in Charleston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.